All the various parts for the plane have finally trickled in and things are almost back together. The annual should be complete on Monday, but that's a separate story. I always enjoy wandering the shop and the ramp to look at the various planes. When I arrived at the shop this afternoon there was a 1981 P Baron sitting on the ramp waiting to be moved in to the hangar. I didn't pay much attention to it other than I noticed the Friendship 7 symbol on the tail. I thought it was interesting, but proceeded to my plane.As I was leaving, after helping to finish up a few things on my plane, I noticed two murals painted on the port side of the plane. It all had to do with Astronaut John Glenn and his Mercury spaceflight in Friendship 7. I took some pictures and asked the guys what the story was.
Turns out this used to be John Glenn's airplane! Up until last year, he was the original owner of this plane and flew it quite often. The new owner lives here in Jacksonville and had the murals added. I understand he will be flying up to Ohio this month and John Glenn will autograph the plane for him.
Pretty cool!
A little bit of history....very nice. Hope everything goes well as you button up at the completion of annual.
ReplyDeleteOh wow...what a great experience!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update and t he nicec shots of Fs7, a nice airplane to be sure. There is a reason for everything, but I don't understand why your annual (and downtime) is done during peak flying season. I'd think it better done during seasons of expected poor weather when you would not be flying anyway. Care to enlighten me? Happy Landings, -C.
ReplyDeletePretty cool, Geoff - that guy has quite a conversation piece, doesn't he?
ReplyDeleteC- You are right about the time of year for the annual. It basically boils down to the fact that when I bought the plane it was due in June. So I waited this year for the end of June and shifted into July so I can step it another month more. I'll keep doing that till I get it to the winter time. I just don't have the money to pay for an annual 6 months from now just to get it in the month I want. I'll get there eventually.
ReplyDeleteHi Geoff, Thanks. That's pretty close to what I was guessing and it makes perfect sense. Nice to hear that your A&P shop is one of the few that will allow owners to help and as you noted, generally get in the way - and without a big penalty. That sort of thing goes a LONG way toward helping folks to better know their aircraft - which is NEVER a bad thing. Best wishes and Happy Landings, -C.
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